


Fallen Leaves Series: Haldir x Reader

by ivymyst



Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, One Shot, Other, Reader-Insert, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-03-08 04:26:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18887158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivymyst/pseuds/ivymyst
Summary: A collection of Haldir x Reader Imagines/One Shots/Fics that I've written on my blog Haldir-Cupcake.





	1. Falling Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Hey! Could I have a one shot about Haldir falling in love with a human from our world that gets to middle earth somehow? With some angst but fluff and happy ending pretty please? Thanks so much!! I look forward to reading it x

You’d fallen hard, that much you could conclude, at least judging by the bump growing on the back of your head and the dull painful ache that erupted when you shifted and tried to move from your spot… on the ground? Why were you outside?

The last you remembered, you’d been driving through the city late at night and had been on your way home and you’d driven under an overpass that had been coated with fresh lines of spray paint twisting into patterns you’d not recognized.

Then you were here on the ground with the lump of a root digging in your side and burning into a spot where surely there was a bruise.

When you’d finally felt brave enough to open your eyes you discovered that you were in some sort of forest of all things, and panic had soon set in as you rose from your spot on wobbling knees, almost having them buckle under you when the reality that there wasn’t anything familiar about the place struck.

You groaned, stumbling around in circles trying to make sense of it all, certain that you surely must have hit your head quite hard. Your ears strained and you tried to pick up the sound of traffic, because surely you’d find it, but that did not happen.

There was only the peaceful serenity of nature and when you tilted your head up to glance at the trees around you, you realized that it must have been a forest far older than what you’d seen where you lived before.

Where on Earth were you?

You began taking small steps back, all the pieces of your scattered memories struggling to construct into something tangible in your mind while working not to break out into a frantic panic that lead you to do something stupid, but it was too late and your back hit something hard behind you, something that was decidedly not a tree, but rather a… person.

You yelped, spinning about to meet them face to face, only to fall back on your rump, hard, most assuredly giving you another bruise on your backside if there hadn’t been one there already. You looked up, your wide eyes meeting the cool stare of… of an elf? The pointed ears certainly hinted to that, the clothing did, too, but that couldn’t be right. Your long stare became an assessing squint and you realized the clothes they wore were far too nice to be anything from a costume shop.

He seemed to be just as suspicious of you, however, and returning your stare and most assuredly taking stock of all your features and clothing choice which must have been just as perplexing as his were to you. He spoke, his voice coming out steely and direct with a hint of a mocking drawl that had your insides quivering, yet you didn’t understand a word he was saying and that must have showed on your face because he sighed, his mouth forming a thin, irate line as he looked down his nose at you before trying again.

“You are trespassing,” he said and you blinked, surprised that you could understand him. Then a chill came up your spine and you realized you were not alone, the figures of others like him appearing in your periphery, all of them with… with bows and arrows raised and at you.

Your mouth felt dry and the ache in your head had begun a steady drum of pain against your skull and radiated all the way to your temples. You gulped, struggling to come up with a response.

“It was unplanned,” you said with a slight waver in your voice, “I-I really don’t know where I am.”

“You’ve come too far into our forest for us to let you go. You’ll be coming with us.”

Before you could think to even utter a word of protest, you felt yourself being hauled up by your arms behind you a little roughly and something being thrown over your head.

_Oh._  
  


* * *

 

The coming days passed, but they did so without your willingness. At times you were spoken to, other times you were roughly moved along without a word, and, occasionally, given a brief reprieve of the sack that had obscured your vision so that you might see some of the world outside of it, but only for brief intervals. You drank water, but refused to eat after some time which at first had not been a bother to them, until your gait became clumsy and you struggled to walk, stumbling over uneven terrain and almost falling flat on your face hadn’t strong arms caught you and steadied you.

“You are being foolish,” the elf told you after having watched you turn your head away at a parcel of leaves that had contained something for you to eat.

You said nothing in response, instead taking on a stubborn demeanor and locking your jaw tight and trying, and of course failing, to avoid being reminded of the near constant pounding of your head and the bursts of stars that erupted in your vision every time you looked around too quickly.

“And you will also gain nothing but illness if you continue as you do.”

The energy it took to hear his words and understand them took so much out of you that could not even manage a scowl or glare in response. Instead, you slumped back against the bulk of a tree, blearily realizing that you were no longer on the ground anymore, but high up on some sort of platform. The next moment you were glancing back at his look of disapproval and in another you were met with the fading image of his face shifting into something that looked suspiciously like worry before you were claimed by a numbing darkness that you were thankful for, because it made you forget the pain, the hunger, and most of all; the unease at not knowing what was going to happen to you.  
  


* * *

 

When you came to again, eyes blinking to take in your surroundings, you found that you were no longer just in the forest, or on some platform like before but surrounded by many, and this time they were more ornate and expansive. The sight was enough to suck the wind out of you and you found yourself gawking at the wonder and beauty of it all, not even realizing that you were being held by someone.

Namely an elf. The only one whom you’d actually spoken to the entire time.

Your body stiffened and you thought to struggle until you realized you were being carried over a series of rather perilous looking steps that were leading to what appeared to be some sort of atrium. It was not empty, and you spotted the guards that stood still as stone at different corners, their stoic faces looking only ahead.

“Where am I?” You muttered, your words coming out too softly even to your own ears, but your carrier heard you nonetheless and glanced a look down at you as you were held in his arms. The position embarrassed you immensely, and you could not help but marvel at his strength, but you could not see any other option that did not lead to your being dropped, so… you did nothing.

“Caras Galadhon,” he said.

Oh no, he’s stopped speaking English, your mind intoned with regret, but you merely nodded in his hold, too tired and too weak to question him. Unless he meant that was the name of the place…

“I do not know your name,” you said finally, not sure where the question had come from, he was your captor after all, but it had fallen from your lips nonetheless.

“Haldir.”

You inhaled.

“I see you’ve not come empty handed,” a melodious voice called and you realized you were being let down from his hold, your feet landing softly on the marble floor, though he did not relinquish his grasp on you which, though you wouldn’t admit it, gave you great relief.

You felt dumbfounded, however, at the sight that met you of a beautiful couple so… so fair, and almost blinding in their brightness. Words failed you, of course, and you felt as if you’d been touched by a force far mightier than yourself and it made you feel small and insignificant in their presence. All shouts and demands for your release that you’d planned since your most recent and previous bout of consciousness evaporated and you were left in awe. Is this what it felt like to look upon Gods? There was a feeling of bliss and serenity inside you, but you questioned it and by doing so you were soon led onto a path of emotion closest to despair.

 _You should not be here_ , your own mind railed with relentlessness.

_Leave._

_Run._

“I see everything inside you and hope that you might reconsider, at least for the time being, as there is not much that can be done,” the fair woman said. “But you are welcome, and we hope that you will find some respite.”

How could someone be so wonderful to look at? You didn’t really know. The moment seared itself in your memories and you realized that no matter what came next you could never forget such a meeting.

They nodded their heads as if some communication had passed without your knowledge and you felt Haldir bow his head slightly, still holding on to you as his firm arm pressed across your back with his hand held just a little above your hip. He led you away and you could not help but whip your head to look back at them, wanting to say something more but unsure of what was left to be said, so you remained silent, allowing yourself to be taken.  
  


* * *

 

You ate some eventually, albeit sparingly, and while the food was the most wonderful thing you’d ever tasted, and just what you needed, you found yourself struggling to enjoy it. None of this was right, none of it was yours. The beauty around you left you feeling dull and out of place and with those feelings so waned your health once again.

Even when your dirty and battered clothing had been taken and mended and you’d been dressed in their own clothes, you felt like the outsider that you knew you were, certain that you’d never feel anything else while you remained there.

Haldir had not returned and while you certainly hadn’t befriended him, you did miss his company. He was the first face you’d seen in this different world after all.

More days passed and the servants that intermittently flittered about grew increasingly more irritating at how they treated you, always hovering and coaxing you to drink this or taste that all while being unable to communicate clearly with you. You must have been some sort of oddity to them, you realized, but the feeling was mutual and you could not fault them for it, except when they were practically shoving a bowl in your face and draping cloth over your bare shoulders.

You’d snapped then, immediately feeling guilty and childish when they hastily retreated while not making any eye contact with you.

“You look ill,” a voice said and your head spun to see Haldir himself standing in your doorway, his hands folded behind him. Under most circumstances his comment would have been rude, but as usual you didn’t have much energy to argue. Much.

“I’m fine,” you said, sinking into a rather comfortable chair as you shut your eyes. In some strange, inconceivable way you’d missed him.

“You wish to return home,” he stated.

You nodded, resting your head in your propped hand. You could hear his footsteps approaching and you opened one eye to glance at him, unsure of what to say to him.

“The time will come when your path will become clearer to you, but until then… it does not do you well to take such little care of yourself.”

You wanted to thank him, after all you knew that there was truth to his words, but you could not speak at the moment because it felt that if you did, you might say too much and that would lead to tears and you could never live it down if you let yourself succumb to such weakness in front of strangers, even if they seemed well-meaning. So, you nodded instead, covering your face with your hands.

When you finally opened your eyes again, Haldir was gone.  
  


* * *

 

More time passed, the days becoming weeks, and soon months, until finally you realized that a year had come and gone and you had remained. With that time came some acceptance and you did not fight the feeling. Haldir came and went and a strange sort of connection had developed between the two of you that left no room for complaint. He’d become almost a friend, if such a thing were possible. Of course, it was, your mind chided, he cared and that much was evident by all the time he gave you when you knew that he had far better things to tend to.

Sometimes he’d walk with you in the gardens, your arm in the crook of his while enveloped in comfortable silence, though sometimes you asked questions about the new world you inhabited. His answers filled you with wonder and amazement, because it certainly did not sound like the world you knew, at least not completely. Sometimes you’d think of little things, like what had happened to your car, or had anyone questioned why you’d stopped coming to work? Who missed you? It used to worry you so much, but of late that feeling seemed to lessen and you felt… okay with being exactly where you were.

Haldir did not ask you any questions about where you’d come from, though you could see it there in his gaze. Before he had seemed so cool and aloof which had bothered you, but then something had warmed there, and in his blue eyes you saw a gentility and kindness that was both parts startling and very welcome.

He smiled at you, after you’d told him some silly joke that you knew made little sense to him, which of course somehow made it even funnier.

A tight feeling caught a hold of your chest and there was something, some strange little feeling growing inside you that took you off guard. It was joy, you realized. It was wonderful and frightening, but you couldn’t say it, couldn’t tell him, at least not yet.

Instead, you smiled back and gave his firm arm a squeeze in return, the pair of you continuing your stroll as if nothing in your world or his could hurt you.  
  


* * *

 

A part of you had guessed it, especially when Haldir had let slip the ages of the elves around you.

They were ancient, but you… you were so new and young compared to them and it made you feel little, and worst of all—fleeting.

“And the humans here, do they grow just as old?”

He shook his head and you frowned, but said nothing.

Then a horn blew and the both of you stopped just as you’d been about to turn in the garden path, his stance stiffening beside you which doused your nerves in a frigid fear.

“What is that?”

“I must go. Come, I will take you back to your room.”

His hand held yours tightly and while the gesture had earned the both of you a few long stares from those you passed by, it gave you some lapse of comfort up until he’d brought you back to your room just as he’d promised. You looked at him expectantly, but he merely clasped both of your shoulders tightly and it almost felt as if he were holding you quite literally at arm’s length.

“Is something wrong?”

“Yes, but do not worry, I will return when it is dealt with. Farewell for now,” was all he said to you and then he briskly left your presence as you stood in the open doorway feeling quite abandoned, but there was a glimmer of hope held at his words of promise that he would return to you.

You sighed, and returned inside after shutting the door behind you and making your way to your bed almost listlessly. You lay there for a long while, mulling over all of the time you’d spent together and how you missed him even then, despite the fact he’d only been absent for a few moments.

And it wasn’t as if he’d left you before, sometimes gone for weeks before returning to seek your company if you did not seek his first, but the abruptness of his departure sent a pang of worry in your chest and you felt the first brimming of tears sting your eyes. You hadn’t cried, not for a long while.

Night came, then the dawn and noontime and before too long it had been three days since Haldir had departed.

You felt wrecked by his absence, the feeling itself and the fact that you felt it so acutely and out of the blue leaving you to a sense of being lost and desolate. One of the serving maids had seemed to feel pity on you and brushed a few strands of hair away from your brow as you’d sat slumped in your seat, staring out in the room without any focus. Neither of you could communicate with each other very well, save for a few vague and often rather animated gestures, and you’d long since decided it would be time for you to try and learn their language, but the nagging grief of Haldir’s absence made it hard for you to want to communicate with anyone at the moment. But the elf maid smiled at you, giving off a warmth that you felt inside your chest. You smiled back, albeit weakly, and realized that perhaps you weren’t so alone or adrift as you’d imagined.

A soft knock resounded at the door and you turned your attention to it, unsure of who could be visiting you at that moment. The maid left you and answered it, however, and you immediately brightened when you saw who it was.

Haldir.

He was whole and present, standing in your room, a calm yet grateful expression on his handsome face and then you felt as if the light inside was lit once more and you stood, only halting when you eyed a thin red scratch across his cheek.

“So you did go to battle?” You asked him, fighting the urge to leap into his arms. The maid swiftly left, shutting the door softly behind her.

“Yes, but it is done now,” he told you, raising a hand to stroke your cheek.

He’d never done that before, you thought with a smile as the simple gesture thrilled you far more than you wanted to say.

But he was back, and he’d come back to you.

“Haldir?”

“Yes,” he said, gazing into your eyes. His attention was very much fixed on you, but you saw a flicker of something there—perhaps it was hesitation? Reluctance?

“It feels like a ridiculous question,” you told him with a laugh, looking down at his broad chest, no longer able to meet his eye as you struggled to gather what you wanted to tell him. “And very presumptive…”

“Go on,” he told you, humor laced in his words.

“Do elves… and my kind, do they ever become,” you struggled to tell him, heat rising on your cheeks, “I mean, what I mean to say is—do they ever become more than friends? Does that happen here?”

There was something there in his gaze when you looked up, it was no longer the reluctance you’d detected, but a flash of sadness… longing even, but was brief and was soon replaced by something else, something that made you feel as if you might start lifting off the ground with uncontained happiness. It was passion, you realized, a passion for you, a passion you knew immediately that you felt for him, too, even if it was only right then and there that you realized it.

“It does happen. Not often, but it is possible,” he told you with a grin.

“Oh, that’s good,” was all you said, feeling a little sheepish at your lack of eloquence, but you couldn’t blame yourself too much for it.

“Meleth nîn,” he said softly, a gentle fondness crinkling his eyes as he pulled you in closer, his sweet breath only a few inches from your face and you weren’t sure if it was the furious blush or the heat of him that warmed you and had you melting in his intimate embrace.

Everything felt light, ethereal, and in your mind you knew that there would be so much to the story, so much that had to happen, so much that would happen, but none of it meant anything, not yet, not when Haldir pressed his soft lips to yours and you melted under his kiss.

And you were glad, so glad that you’d fallen in this world after all.


	2. Falling Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Hi, its Sapphire from AO3! I was wondering if you could write a reader from our world x haldir, where the reader gets injured and haldir saves her?? (like maybe a continuation from fallen leaves since they have an established relationship but idk its ur choice!!) Loll i just want there to be dramatic angst that ends in fluff. Thank you!!!
> 
> Warning: Some violence and brief kidnapping.

You had wanted to see so much more the longer you’d been in Lothlórien, and while you had grown to love it dearly there was still a whole entire world for you to see and explore. But Haldir had forbade it, telling you that the world you knew and the one that he knew was completely different.  
  
“There are unimaginable dangers beyond our borders that you have never seen,” he’d told you, his words stern as what had started out as a mild discussion had quickly turned a little more heated than you were accustomed to.  
  
“You think there is no danger where I came from?” you shot back, abruptly standing to your feet from the seat you’d just taken. “You think I do not know what it is like to be afraid of what’s outside my door?”  
  
“The dangers you know are not the same as the dangers we face when travel out in the open here…”  
  
“So, it’s true then that I am in fact still a prisoner?”  
  
At your words, his eyes shut, mouth forming a tight grim line as he turned his head away and you did not miss the way his fists clenched at his sides.  
  
Then he’d left your room without another word, your own question ringing back in your ears and clouding your mind in a haze of confusion and making you question your own judgement. Had he been hurt by your words? Had he been confirming what you feared all along even as the both of you had grown closer together? But perhaps your time together was a mere blink to him, and you were a small plaything, perhaps even a childish amusement no better than a pet…  
  
But no, _no_. They, _the elves_ , were not like that even if they sometimes looked at you as if you were a source of entertainment to them.  
  
But they had never belittled you.  
  
And Haldir.  
  
_He_ was not like that.  
  
But then a delegation from another elven realm came and you sought your moment, inserting yourself in the fray of preparations and even eavesdropping on the conversations the serving maids held and managing to pick up sparse bits of their conversation from the broken Sindarin you’d been picking up gradually over time.  
  
And then you’d met with the Lady, ever effulgent and beautiful in every moment you had the chance to look upon her and of course the Lady Galadriel, despite being distant and quite mysterious, knew your heart and your desire to see more than just the city and its borders.  
  
And you’d done it, you’d met the elves from the place called Rivendell and something burst in your heart at the very idea of going there and traveling and seeing the world out there, seeing its beauty and yes, even preparing for the risk that you actually were not blind to.  
  
But Haldir had not come to see you, had not offered to join the party of your escort with the delegation when the time came for them to depart eventually, but by that time you were already managing quite well enough to communicate with the elves around you who treated you with a kind of distant, yet cordial neutrality that suited you just fine.  
  
And so you went, taken by the wind and out of the cloaked forest of Lothlórien’s borders and its wondrous Mellyrn that had shielded you all that long while since your arrival.  
  
Haldir had not bid you farewell, though when you’d glanced back you could have sworn you felt his presence somewhere unseen, watching you go, and the very thought had left a pang in your heart.  
  


* * *

  
  
Much time had passed when you’d finally began your journey back and the person you’d been before and who you were now… well, you weren’t really sure if you could even recognize yourself if given the chance. You’d seen much, even been caught in the crosshairs of danger a few times, and learned so much more than you could have ever imagined, all of it filling you up and imprinting memories deep inside you that you knew you could never forget.  
  
But there was someone else you could not forget— _had not_ forgotten.  
  
Haldir.  
  
His face, his words… his _touch_ despite it never going past kisses and close embraces. It all had lingered within you and all the moments you’d shared came to you night after night even when you’d done so much those days that you had expected you’d have dropped from exhaustion.  
  
But he was always there, his presence in your thoughts holding you captive and keeping you awake.  
  
Had you abandoned his thoughts, though? Had you offended him so very much that he would scorn you once he saw your return, or worse… forgotten you?  
  
For weeks your mind had circled back and forth with these thoughts, looping around all the scenarios that could come to pass between you and all the burning questions that tortured you.  
  
It had begun to feel all so foolish, but yet when it came to it, when you asked yourself if you were sorry for wanting to go, you realized that you did not regret it, only regretting that Haldir had not given you his blessing, and then that pain had grown into a sort of righteous anger that surprised you because your independence had always been something important to you.  
  
The returning path your party had taken, even as your incessant thoughts continued to plague you, was different from the one you’d taken before as there had been some reports of orc activity sighted. Though you’d only caught the glimpse of one before in a failed attack by a small group that had been quickly eradicated, you knew the danger they posed and found yourself on high alert as you clumsily gripped your steed’s reins. Perhaps it did not help that you were a newly trained rider, too, but to be fair you had caught on quite well and rather quickly at that.  
  
And then a shrill, piercing cry shot through the night, breaking through any peace and you felt your body stiffen in your seat, glancing wildly all around for the source of the horrible noise as a series of shouts erupted from the elves in your party who flanked you and the others who were not so accustomed to battle. Fear gripped your chest, and everything happened so quickly that you did not realize what was happening, that the attack was coming from all sides and was attempting to break the formation your party had set. Your horse reared and the reins slipped from your hands as you fell back– the beautiful starlit sky above being the last thing you saw before you were dropped into a vast ocean of pitch darkness.  
  


* * *

  
  
Rough hands with sharp, cutting nails gripped your ankles, pulling your bruised body over bumpy terrain as your eyes blearily opened and you were sure that the entire side of your face and neck was wet with something, yet when you tried to lift a hand to touch it, you found that they were bound together just as you were jerkily hoisted up atop something’s, or rather someone’s misshapen and hunched shoulder belonging to a sturdy figure with an unfortunate strong hold.  
  
You groaned, nausea swirling in your gut as tears of pain pricked your eyes and you feared the very worst of what was to come.  
  
It was too easy for you to slip back into unconsciousness, the horror of your new reality being almost too much to take especially when you hurt so much and you wanted nothing more than to feel and think nothing.  
  
When you came to again the dark blue sky had faded and dawn slowly crept in. You were cold and damp, not to mention tied to a tree and when you glanced around you almost let out a cry at the sight of another elf in the same predicament as you, though he still appeared to be out.  
  
Perhaps he was lucky, and you knew it to be so when a snarling face appeared inches in front of your face with mealy grey skin and sharp beastly eyes that held nothing but coldness and calculating cruelty as its horrid tongue darted out over split lips, watching you with a dangerous kind of hunger that made you recoil and knock your head back into the tree’s bark. The action resulting in you giving a hard wince of pain.  
  
They really were the ugliest things you had ever seen… and the _stench_. It was almost bad enough to make you want to heave if you hadn’t been so preoccupied by the pain assailing your head and body.  
  
Your vision began to blacken at the edges, and you shut your eyes, turning your face away and breathing harshly. The foul creature growled and you thought it meant to leave you as you heard a rustle of steps through the fallen leaves until your bindings were being pulled and sliced, but it was a temporary relief until you realized that the new party you’d joined against your will was moving and attempting to do so quickly.  
  
Something in you snapped right then and you began bucking wildly against your restraints, thrashing your limbs wildly and managing to launch yourself a few paces further away from where you’d started until the top of your head was yanked back sharply by your hair, making you cry out. You jerked in elbow out, kicking up your feet as fiercely as you could muster until your courage withered at the sight of the orc once again who had brandished a crude blade. In your stupor you didn’t think to move away, merely raising your arms up protectively only for it slice into the flesh of your forearm.  
  
A pained shout flew from your lips and you felt warm blood begin dripping into the front of your clothing as you tried desperately to push away, your booted feet slipping pathetically in the mud. Something whizzed overhead and you blinked, glancing up to the orc who had been looming over you with its weapon stained red with your blood but now with an arrow protruding from its loathsome face before falling back like a sack of potatoes.  
  
Though your bindings had been cut from the tree, your wrists were still tied together with biting rope. You knew you should rise from the ground and flee, but you suddenly felt heavier and your vision blurred in and out. _Now was not the time to be weak_. The gash across your forearm burned and you worried that the cut had gone too deep. Lamely your other hand tried to grip the area, but your fingers slipped in the oozing blood and you hissed.  
  
Something must have been happening around you, a realization which came a little too slowly to your liking and your heart leapt in your throat when you saw tall, lithe figures with bows raised; their long silken hair whipping behind them as they moved rapidly and felled the remainder of what must have been a small orc party that had been too slow to leave with their hostages.  
  
Relief washed over you and you slackened, now only holding onto the hope that you wouldn’t be trampled while lying in the middle of the fray, and that of course that you wouldn’t bleed out before it all settled down and you could hopefully be rescued.  
  
Your eyes closed, unable to help it.  
  
You were just so, so tired.  
  
Then you heard a huff and the sensation of someone dropping down beside you, firm yet gentle hands working over you— the sound of fabric being ripped, a hand caressing your cheek, and then the pressure of your wound being wrapped tightly as you were lifted up.  
  
Should you dare to try and open your eyes? _Perhaps later…_  
  
You began fading away gently as soft words were spoken to you in an oddly familiar voice that was so very comforting , taking hold of your wracked nerves and finally putting them at ease just as all awareness departed.  
  


* * *

  
  
You had been so peaceful when the feeling of something sharp digging into your skin awakened you and you jerked, eyes shooting open as someone was holding onto you for dear life and another; a hazy figure in your periphery, was stitching the wound in your side. Logically you knew this was a good thing, yet panic took hold and found yourself trying to move away if it weren’t for the strong arms holding you… and you were in someone’s lap?  
  
“Be at ease,” a voice whispered in your ear that was both firm and calm.  
  
“Haldir,” his name fell from your lips before your mind even registered that it was him that was there with you. Somehow, between the pain and relief, shame heated your face and you felt guilt overtake you.  
  
“You’re safe, meleth nîn,” he soothed.  
  
“You must think I’m a big idiot,” you said with a hoarse laugh only to cut it off with a grimace and hiss of pain as the needle went in again. Somehow you felt his smile more than saw it.  
  
“The only thing I think is that I’ve never been more grateful in all my years taking breath than I am now in this moment.”  
  
“Are you angry with me?”  
  
“No,” he told you and you felt him press a soft kiss on your brow that almost made all of the pain subside. “But I think you should be angry with me. I failed you.”  
  
Confusion knitted your brow and you didn’t understand why he would say such a thing.  
  
“I should never have let you leave without me at your side. In my anger…” he began, breaking with an uncharacteristic sigh before speaking once more, “In my anger I let you go, thinking you wished for independence away from me. I was so very foolish, and it made me ill as I rightly deserved the longer you were away and after I let you leave on such poor terms. I will not hide you from the world, but I will never abandon you again and that is an oath I will take. It is my word, my promise to you.”  
  
Your wound was now being wrapped again and was placed gently at your side, yet you were left speechless, still feeling the heat of guilt and embarrassment on your cheeks as you tried to process his words.  
  
What on earth was he talking about? An oath? To you?  
  
You were still too hazy to get through the seriousness of such a conversation and you shushed him quietly, reaching your good hand up to stroke his face as you finally managed to get a good look at him and into his intense gaze while you were held in his arms.  
  
“I had a good time if that helps any,” you told him with a smile. He smiled back, shaking his head at your words.  
  
He’d never let you go now.


	3. The Artist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Hi! Lol I saw ur post about wanting a request, and I was wondering could you please write a Haldir x human artist reader? Something fluffy and cute?? Thank you!

You didn’t show anyone your artwork, not that anyone ever had the chance to ask, but it was something special that was all your own and the fear that someone might see it, to very well catch a glimpse into your heart, made you very hesitant. So, you hid your sketchbooks, stuffing them in your satchel or hiding them behind your back the very moment someone interrupted.  
  
Yet today, when it was so beautiful with the sun shining brightly, cascading light through the shivering mallorn leaves that were moved by the wind, you found yourself at peace and enraptured by your own work.  
  
You didn’t think it was perfect or anything, but it made you happy to sit there, pencil in hand as you sketched away, a line here and a swift stroke there. Sometimes you drew still life; a moment captured on parchment of a tranquil stream and some mossy rocks, a high view from one of the flets overlooking the forest, or even scenes invoked from tales of long ago that stirred your quite active imagination.  
  
Occasionally you’d try to draw portraits, too, but only rarely since that could draw attention to you, especially if you were sitting somewhere and had to study them. You could do it by memory, too, of course, but that was never quite right enough. But today, spurred only by your fancies and the tales the elven maids shared, you imagined Luthien and drew the form of an elleth in the midst of tall trees, long dark tresses flowing behind in a swift breeze. You were pleased with it and smiled, completely unaware as someone watched over your shoulder until a leaf drifted down from above and landed on the drawing. You blinked, glancing up and almost froze solid when you saw who it was.  
  
Haldir.  
  
On instinct, your hand slammed the cover over your sketchbook and you clutched it almost protectively to your chest before sputtering, “Oh, Haldir!”  
  
A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips and something a little too mischievous for your liking twinkled in his blue eyes despite how subdued it was, but it was there and it made your heart hammer loudly in your chest.  
  
“You’re quite good,” he said. You laughed, a nervous sort of laugh that made your cheeks burn and your eyes glance around for a chance to flee.  
  
“If it had been one of my brothers they might have snatched that book from you to see what it is you keep so private.” At your horrified look, his smirk deepened and he let out a small chuckle before adding, “But I would not do that.”  
  
You let out a breath visibly relaxing a little at his words.  
  
“I know it’s silly, to hide such things, after all… many others show off their works without much thought, but I don’t…” you sighed, trying to think of how you should explain yourself before wondering why you were even doing so to begin with. “I-I… don’t know,” you finished, certain your face had turned practically beet red by that point.  
  
“If it makes you hesitant then you do not have to show me, but since I saw some of it already by chance, I do think you have a talent.”  
  
You smiled at him.  
  
“Thank you,” you said and he took your hand in his, a gesture which took you slightly off guard. Haldir had known you for some time and it seemed as if the pair of you skirted around a sort of unspoken attraction since you’d arrived, yet you struggled to imagine anything ever coming of it. Why would it, when you were so shy and he was so… so… himself.  
  
Before your mind could race into all sorts of nervous directions you looked into his eyes once again and found that you could not be nervous, no, not when you saw such warmth and kindness there. Perhaps it couldn’t hurt to show him a few pages…  
  
“Would you truly… care to see more?”  
  
“Of course.”  
  
Hesitantly your hand left his own and you opened up the sketchbook before extending it to him and letting out a small huff. There. You did it. If there was anyone with whom you’d share it with then it would be him. His face seemed to light up with genuine interest and it made something funny flutter inside your stomach.  
  
“I particularly like this one,” he said, pointing to one page where you’d drawn outlines of the guards perched at their posts, bows at their sides. After looking at a few more pages he saw you begin to shift uneasily and he shut the book himself, carefully handing it back to you with the kind of respect one would grant a cherished object.  
  
“Thank you,” he said, lifting his hand to brush away a stray lock of hair away from your face, “for sharing something so dear with me. I feel honored.”  
  
Oh. You didn’t know what to say to that, but it made your heart leap and you found yourself grinning up at him, not immediately sure how to respond. So, you settled for nodding your head, hoping you didn’t look as flustered as you felt. If you did, however, Haldir did not seem to mind at all.  
  
“I paint a little myself,” he told you, surprising you. “If you’d like, we could practice together.”  
  
“I’d like that,” was your response. “Very much.” And it was true. Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing to share your art with someone after all.


	4. All Yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Can you write a fluffy Imagine with haldir. Like maybe he gets home from a bit of a long time away and just like cuddles the reader and comforts them because they missed him

Rain pattered against the windowpanes and you lay on the chaise watching silently, feeling such little energy to get up or move about at all as you’d tried to read, only to end up not doing so and eventually neglecting it as you were. You had not left your talan either, but you decided it wouldn’t be so horrible if you just merely… did nothing, at least for the day. Just one day.

Haldir had been gone for far too many weeks now and you thought of him often, especially in the dark, lonely hours of the night time.

It was surely folly to let yourself dwell so deeply on how much you missed him, but you found that after a while you could not help yourself and was it so terribly wrong to long for the one who had claimed your own heart? Surely not.

You let out a heavy sigh and then you almost felt the urge to laugh at yourself. You knew you ought to be doing something else, anything else, at least for a distraction.

Then you heard something; steps coming up to the front entryway and you imagined that perhaps it was Rumil who had returned from the fences just last week. He seemed to always be appearing at odd times to pilfer through your larders when you least expected him, and you had had half a mind to start locking your doors if you didn’t like him so much. He was like a brother to you now, and how could you deny him entry? So, you called out, not bothering to look and see who it was.

“Rumil, if I have to go to the market stalls a third time this week just to sate your hunger for cheese then I’m going to start keeping a logbook and have you contribute to the household expenses each month,” you said out loud with a little more melancholy in your tone than you’d intended, eyes still fixed on the window.

“I suppose I should go have a talk with him and remind him that he has his own stores to deplete then,” a voice replied and you jumped up, audibly knocking down the book that had been resting on your stomach to the floor.

“You’ve returned,” you said, immediately feeling embarrassed at the prickle of tears in your eyes as you ran to him, taking his calloused hands in your own. He was still dressed for the fences in his grey clothes and had the fresh smell of the forest and of the outside on him.

He was looking into your eyes when he released one hand to stroke along your cheek and jawline before gently pulling you to him for a soft kiss. You dipped in deeper, of course, throwing your arms about him and pulling him snug against your own body. Oh, how you savored in the warmth of him.

“I’ve missed you,” he told you. “So very much.”

You smiled, embarrassed as a tear slid down your face. His gaze shifted in concern and he wiped it away before placing a kiss there.

“Come,” he whispered, pulling you along to the very chaise you’d just occupied alone, except now this time he was with you and you found yourself held tightly in his reclining embrace. Your arms felt along the muscles of his own strong arms, feeling utterly pleased when you rested your head against his broad chest.

“I know you must go again soon,” you began, lamenting at the despair in your own voice.

“Hush now,” he said soothingly. “Be here with me now, meleth nîn, and worry not for tomorrow.”

“You must at least stay to scold your brother,” you joked.

“Of course,” he said, pulling you tighter and you smiled. “Now tell me everything you’ve been up to and do not spare a single detail. I am all yours.”


	5. Of Many Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: I saw your post for requests and was wondering if you could do a haldir and reader where the reader is a super clumsy person who's constantly tripping over everything, even when there's nothing to trip over. Thank you in advance!!

The very first time you met Haldir, the stern and stoic March Warden, you’d been walking about and looking up (instead of at the ground below), completely missing a step and promptly free-falling into the open air and almost down a flight of steps if the bemused elf hadn’t had the quick enough reflexes to catch you.  
  
“Oh,” was all you could say as you felt a strong pair of steady hands gripping your arms, before you hastily added a, “T-Thank you.”  
  
He curtly dipped his head in response, releasing you once he was certain you were out of danger. Then he’d left with nary an introduction, though you certainly knew who he was and now, well, you guessed he certainly wouldn’t forget you even if you were sure he did not know your name, though you did not imagine crossing paths with him again.  
  
Except you did, and on your next meeting after being prompted to take a turn about the gardens you stumbled on your own feet— though to your own credit you would have done so either way even if Haldir had not appeared to be passing by. He stopped, regarded you with a blink before once again inclining his head in your direction while giving you a wide berth to pass him by.  
  
You did so, giving your own silent greeting, too used to your own errant legs to feel that much embarrassment, except that you walked right into a protruding branch and ended up with a hair full of leaves for your trouble. Haldir, exerting some delicacy, pretended as if he had not seen and then, _thankfully_ , the both of you had carried on.  
  
And _then_ , after that, a great banquet was to be held and you found yourself bounding about getting ready with the jubilant kind of excitement that was difficult to contain since after all there would be so many in attending and, most importantly; it was hosted by the Lord and Lady themselves and they never disappointed.  
  
You dressed in your very best while feeling quite light on your feet, and when the time came you were practically jumping out of your own skin to take in every single detail of what was going on around you; the upper flets with extending tree limbs cascading down and lit for the occasion with small lanterns, the many tables lined with wondrous food free for the taking, the sky above, of course, with twinkling stars come to watch over the festivity, and even the view below of many entwining paths and steps leading into many different directions, some to familiar garden paths and others down walkways that followed to living areas. Even after seeing it all a thousand times you’d never stop admiring all of it.  
  
It was just all so marvelous to behold that you seemed to drift around on your own little cloud, occasionally tripping a little here and there and when you found yourself once again near the edge of a high archway balcony sans railing; you felt some familiar hands gently direct you further away from the edge. You blinked, looking back to see Haldir, of course, because who else would fate throw in your way?  
  
“Hello again,” you beamed. The evening was too pleasant for you to censure your own enthusiasm, you’d decided.  
  
“Hello again to you as well,” was his reply. “I see that you enjoy admiring the view.”  
  
“I often do!”  
  
He smiled, stepping back for a moment. “I do not think we’ve been introduced, at least not directly.”  
  
“That’s true,” you agreed readily. Then he gave his name— which you knew already, and then you gave yours— which he did not know beforehand.  
  
Then, because of course he would, he offered you his arm and you took it gladly as the two of you strolled along the perimeter of all the activity.  
  
“You know, I may just send both of us tumbling if we’re not careful,” you whispered to him, eyes alight with humor as you held onto him.  
  
He was silent, but you did not miss the small quirk of a smile in the corner of his lips, but then he added, “I’m sure we will be just as we should be.”


	6. Safe (Reader w/ past sexual assault, rated G)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: I also saw you asking for requests, idk if your comfortable writing this if not feel free to ignore this. Maybe Haldir comforting his S/O who was sexually assaulted in the past. I was and your writings always make me feel better.
> 
> Note: there are no specific details to said assault.
> 
> Rating: G

There isn’t much you’ve kept from Haldir, and while he knows you haven’t always lived the easiest life, there are a few things you keep close to you, or rather things you try to forget… at least in the moments when you’re so enveloped in the warmth of your shared happiness that it is easy to forget, but sometimes that isn’t the case.  
  
There are times when you need to draw yourself away, fighting between a tide of shame that you know never should have been yours while you stay afloat, tossed back and forth as a memory you’d hoped was forgotten returns; sometimes triggered by little, meaningless things that shouldn’t mean what they’ve come to mean to you.  
  
It hurts and it’s tiring at the best of times.  
  
Elves are naturally reserved, so it isn’t so incomprehensible when you wish to pull away at times of closeness, but Haldir is no fool and sees the flash of pain that can only come from your own wayward thoughts.  
  
He knows there’s something you have not shared, but he also knows better than to take offense. He’s patient with you and restrains himself from doing anything that might seem too overbearing, yet letting his presence remain close enough for you to feel him, thus letting you know that it is safe for you to come to him if you should need him. You’ve set the unspoken boundary and he respects it, yet he does not flee, nor does he let you shut yourself down away from him.  
  
He’s the steady flow against your crashing storm and when you let yourself know that—that’s when you finally let yourself be claimed by his embrace while burrowing your face deep into the warmth of his chest as you speak and unload the burdens of your past.  
  
There is a moment when you feel his body tense against yours and you almost panic, but he is not angry with you. Logically, you know that’s the case, but fear can be a strong force to withstand even when you know better, so when you finally glance up to see him you find yourself letting out a breath when you do not see the face of judgement or condemnation, but of grief mingled with what you can only perceive as some sort of avenging anger, but the latter fades, and your pain is his, and so he holds you, reminding you that there is nothing that anyone else could ever do to you that would lessen your worth, just as gold and silver do not become impure simply by the harsh tarnishing of the world around them.  
  
“There is much strength in you, but one can only wear a warrior’s armor for so long,” he says softly while gently stroking his fingers through your hair. “And it would be unreasonable to expect one to. You’re safe now, meleth nîn, safe here and safe with me always. Do not let some scoundrel rob you of your life’s happiness when you deserve every chance at joy and peace, though I know that is easier said… but—but know that you are _not_ alone.”  
  
You feel your expression and emotions start to crumple a little, as does his own, but all he does is hold you tighter to himself, breathing deeply with you until through blurry eyes you look to him again. There is love in his eyes, as well as a heavy pain now, but it is a burden of knowledge he does not regret having because he knows that in some way that it helps lighten your own burden, too.  
  
And you stay that way for some time until he places a kiss on your forehead, smiling, which you can’t help but return as he takes your hand in his and you walk together, side by side.


End file.
